In hot demand

By Staff -- Logistics Management, 8/1/2000

The nation's continued strong economy has kept truckload carriers extremely busy. Carriers of all stripes—household-goods, high-value goods, industrial and heavy-haul, bulk, and dry-freight—have confronted heightened service demands from shippers this year. At the same time, carriers have had to cope with increases in fuel prices and a shortage of qualified drivers. Despite those challenges, a number of carriers in these five categories surpassed their competitors in meeting shippers' expectations.

Four dry-freight carriers got the thumbs up from readers for quality. The champs in this category were Schneider National, USXpress, Werner Enterprises, and M.S. Carriers.

Overall scores for dry-freight carriers showed improvement from last year. The on-time performance rating climbed from 10.09 in 1999 to 10.71 this year. Information technology was another attribute that improved, rising from 3.14 to 3.54. The customer-service rating also went up, from 5.87 to 6.05. The value rating, on the other hand, dropped from 7.88 to 7.24, as did equipment and operations, down from 5.87 to 5.39.

As for the household-goods category, shippers selected Allied Van Lines, Atlas Van Lines, and United Van Lines as the top carriers. In this category, on-time performance is paramount. A full 69 percent of survey participants cited on-time performance as the most important criterion for selecting a van line. Yet on-time performance slipped from 10.84 last year to 10.11 this year. Likewise, the equipment and operations rating fell from 5.72 in 1999 to 5.26 in our 2000 survey. Customer-service scores dropped from 7.27 last year to 7.25 this year. Information technology fell from 2.94 to 2.87. On the other hand, the value ranking edged upward from 7.09 to 7.32 this year.

Only two high-value goods carriers received kudos this year from shippers. Allied Van Lines and United Van Lines made the grade.

The average rating for on-time performance among high-value carriers fell from 11.35 last year to 10.16 this year. Three other grades also dipped: The information-technology rating dropped from 2.95 to 2.84, customer service from 7.45 to 6.90, and equipment and operations from 5.78 to 5.21. Only the value quotient rose—from 7.02 last year to 7.33 this year.

Readers chose just one carrier as meeting the quality standard for industrial and heavy-haul carriers. That sole honoree was Schneider National's heavy-haul division.

In this category, the average grade for carriers' on-time performance improved slightly from last year, going from 10.75 to 10.80. Another attribute earning higher marks this year was information technology, which rose from 3.11 to 3.51. But the value grade dropped from 8.39 to 7.36, as did customer service (from 6.02 to 5.98) and equipment and operations (from 5.88 to 5.24).

Finally, shippers handed out quality awards to four bulk carriers. Earning high honors in this category were Schneider National Bulk Carriers, Prime Inc., Miller Transporters Inc., and Foodliner Inc. Shippers scored the average on-time performance at 10.54 last year; this year it inched up to 10.55. The value ranking also rose from 6.99 last year to 7.46 this year. The information-technology rating increased from 2.86 to 3.05 this year, while customer service rose from 5.62 to 5.87. Only the equipment and operations category rating fell, from 6.67 to 5.88.

Dry-Freight

Carriers

• Schneider National